U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,635 discloses certain 13-alkyl-11.beta.-phenyl-gonanes having antigestagenic and antiglucocorticoid effects. European patent specification No. 0,057,115 discloses 19-nor steroids and 19-nor-D-homo steroids having anti-glucocorticoid activity.
A number of 16-hydroxy-11-(substituted phenyl)-estra-4,9-diene derivatives have now been found which have a highly selective affinity to glucocorticoid receptors and have potent in vivo anti-glucocorticoid activity.